Its Web-based format makes the actual communication less cumbersome than with an installed piece of software, making it more likely the two parties will use the system to do business, according to Rozint.

“If you ask shops that have used Mitchell Connect and RC Connect they will tell you that it is a huge improvement in usability,” he wrote in an email. “While the actual function is similar to RC Connect, the newer Mitchell Connect makes it much more practical for an insurer to send an assignment to a non-DRP shop. With Mitchell Connect’s web based design, the shop can upload any estimate from any estimating system that outputs EMS without the requirement for software downloads or licensing.”

The Mitchell Connect revamp lets shops obtain assignments and transmit estimates, photos and documents to insurers. It has been and remains compatible with the CCC and AudaExplore estimating systems as well as Mitchell’s own.

“Mitchell’s Connect communication platform is by far the best product they have come out with yet,” Mike Rose’s Auto Body IT and compliance manager Rick Rehm said in a statement. “Its intuitive interface provides the average end user with a predictive workflow, simplifying the process of communicating with our business partners.”

Open Shop, CCC’s version of Mitchell’s insurer-non-DRP shop communication systems, has been repeatedly praised by Collision Advice’s Mike Anderson since its launch in 2012 as an easy, free way for a shop to draw more business — and possibly even serve as a “tryout” for DRP inclusion. So both Mitchell and its user shops might be more competitive as a result of the change.

Mitchell also on Tuesday said the TechAdvisor repair procedure aggregator will soon be spun off into its own standalone option, saving shops from “the time consuming process of launching RepairCenter Quick Start anytime a TechAdvisor user wishes to search for a repair standard or vehicle dimensions.”